The Distracted Dreamer

Carlene Bauwens
  • 5.0 (19)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

Get ready to confidently and unapologetically go after dreams! Welcome to The Distracted Dreamer Podcast. Today is the day you’re going to pull your dreams off the shelf and bring them to the forefront of your life. You are never too tired, too busy, too old, too young, too anything to pursue your dreams. Imagine… the joy and excitement of doing what lights you up. Your dreams are yours. No one gets to take them from you and no one gets to chase them - except you. Your dreams are there to guide you, to inspire you and to show you that yes, there is something more in store for you. You see, the size of your dreams don’t matter - it could be running a marathon, reading a book series, perfecting that family recipe, traveling the world, or learning to dance. I’m Carlene Bauwens, entrepreneur,  Life Coach and now host of The Distracted Dreamer podcast. I’m here to show you how to kick distraction to the curb and grab hold of your dreams. Your happiness matters. You have a big, beautiful, amazing life to live. And you've only got one of them. Welcome to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast.

  1. 1d ago

    #84: Why You Feel Disoriented in Midlife — And How to Find Your Footing Again

    Send Carlene a text or voicemail One foot in a season that's closing. One foot in a future you don't quite recognize yet. Midlife has a way of reshuffling everything at once, which is why so many of us hit a wall. We're trying to move forward while standing in two seasons at once. The roles that used to tell us who we were have shifted. The life that used to fit doesn't quite fit anymore. And nobody handed us a map for the in-between. In this episode, I'm naming what's actually happening. The quiet disorientation that comes with this season. And giving you three grounded practices to help you find your footing again. This isn't about becoming someone new. It's about recognizing yourself right where you are. 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE Disorientation in midlife is a sign you're right in the middle of a real transition.Your surroundings, your shifting roles, and going it alone are quietly keeping the old story running even when you're ready for something new.You don't have to see the whole path. Finding your footing starts with knowing where your feet are right now.This season is disorienting. But you are still capable right now, exactly as you are. SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: The Tuesday Letter with Carlene right here DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week! FOLLOW NOW Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now! Episode Website

    21 min

  2. Jun 8

    #83: Your Nervous System First: The Summer Reset That Actually Works

    Send Carlene a text or voicemail American culture has taught us that being busy, slammed, having so much going on makes us important.  Like a packed calendar is proof that we matter. But what if everything we've been measuring our worth by is working against us? Against our health, our clarity, our joy, and yes, even our productivity? If you've been running on fumes and calling it productive, this episode is going to give you both the science and the permission to finally slow down.  Not because the to-do list doesn't matter. But because taking care of your nervous system first is exactly how the to-do list gets done with less stress, less friction, and more clarity. I say that as someone who calls herself a productivity strategist. I mean every word of it. In this episode, I'm sharing what the research says about why we've become addicted to busy, what chronic stress is actually doing inside your body, and a simple summer reset menu,  backed by science, that you can start today, right where you are. 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE 1️⃣You don't have to choose between being productive and taking care of yourself. Caring for your nervous system first is what makes the to-do list actually get done. 2️⃣ Doing nothing with someone you love is not wasted time. It's co-regulation. Your nervous systems are literally calming each other down. 3️⃣ The guilt you feel when you slow down? That's withdrawal. Push through it — because what's on the other side is clarity you forgot was possible. SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: The Tuesday Letter with Carlene right here DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week! FOLLOW NOW Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now! Episode Website

    26 min

  3. Jun 1

    #82: Are You a Perfectionist or Just Hiding? 5 Questions to Find Out

    Send Carlene a text or voicemail You've said it before. Maybe you're saying it right now. "I'm a perfectionist." But what if that's not the whole truth? In this episode, I'm coming back to perfectionism — because just when we think we've put that monster to sleep, it sneaks back in. It disguises itself as excellence and hard work and caring oh so much. And today I'm giving you some tough love, because the only way through it is to name it for what it really is. I'll walk you through five honest questions to help you figure out whether you're in perfectionist mode — or hiding mode. Because they look the same from the outside, but they have very different solutions. Then I'll give you three shifts to build momentum and keep it going, even when perfectionism tries to nudge its way back in. 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE If nothing has materially improved in the last week, you're not refining — you're stalling.Nothing can be perfected until it's completed. You cannot improve what you refuse to release.Progress is not a mood. It's a system. Map it, make time for it, ship it at 80%.If your dream has been waiting on you — this is the conversation that gets it moving. SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: The Tuesday Letter with Carlene right here DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week! FOLLOW NOW Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now! Episode Website

    20 min

  4. May 25

    #81: Finding yourself again in midlife: it's not about finding your purpose

    Send Carlene a text or voicemail Have you ever stood in the middle of the widest open season of your life — and somehow felt more lost than free? That's where so many of us are in midlife. The kids are grown. The schedule has space. And instead of feeling excited, we're staring at a 12-page menu of possibilities with no idea what to order. In this episode, I'm sharing the one question that cuts through all of it — and it's not "what's my purpose." It's simpler than that. And honestly? It works a whole lot better. I'll walk you through five questions I use with my own clients to uncover your deepest values — because once you know what you value, your dream filter exists. You stop chasing everyone else's version of a good life and start building your own. 3 Key Takeaways from this episode: 1️⃣ You've grown over the past 20 years and that means your values have changed. 2️⃣ Midlife is the time where you can finally sit in the quiet and get to know yourself again. 3️⃣ The overwhelm you feel is a sign that you're ready to start thinking about what you want again SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: The Tuesday Letter with Carlene right here DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week! FOLLOW NOW Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now! Episode Website

    22 min

  5. May 18

    #80: Stop Pushing, Start Creating: How Rest Unlocks Your Most Creative Ideas

    Send Carlene a text or voicemail What if the reason you're stuck has nothing to do with motivation — and everything to do with how your brain is actually designed to create? In this episode, we're getting into the neuroscience of creativity — and why your best ideas almost never show up when you're trying to find them. I'm talking about the Default Mode Network, the incubation effect, and what researchers call the Shower Effect. And I'm sharing the personal story that made all of it click for me in a very unexpected place. This episode is equal parts science and story — and by the end, you'll have a whole new relationship with rest, creativity, and what becomes possible when you finally stop forcing it. 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE: 1️⃣ Forcing creativity is often what blocks it. When you stop pushing and create space, your brain finally gets to do what it was designed to do — and that's when the ideas come. 2️⃣ Rest is not the opposite of productivity. It's the condition for it. Science backs this up — and after this episode, you'll never feel guilty about the walk, the pause, or the quiet moment again. 3️⃣ Your next dream isn't hiding from you. It's waiting for you to get quiet enough to hear it. This episode is permission to stop thinking so hard — and start listening instead. SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: The Tuesday Letter with Carlene right here DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week! FOLLOW NOW Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now! Episode Website

    13 min

  6. May 9

    #79: Parenting Adult Children: How to Navigate Letting Go, Staying Connected, and Finding Yourself Again

    Send Carlene a text or voicemail Nobody warned us that one of the hardest parts of motherhood would come after the kids leave home. We were handed books about teenagers. We had pediatrician conversations about every developmental stage imaginable. But parenting adult children? Crickets. So we carry it — quietly, alone, with nowhere to put any of it. In this episode, I'm going there. Because what you're carrying is real, and it's time we talked about it. I'm sharing eight things that can actually help you navigate this transition — from letting go without losing the relationship, to staying connected in a way that works for both of you, to something I believe is the most important role you can play in your adult kids' lives right now. And I'm getting personal. Because I get to witness one of my daughters become a mom for the first time — and it has taught me everything about what it means to show up in this season the right way. This episode is for the mom who loves her kids fiercely and is figuring out what that looks like now. 💛 3 Key Takeaways From This Episode 1️⃣ Letting go isn't a loss — it's the most loving thing you can do for them and for yourself. 2️⃣ Your role hasn't ended. It's evolved. And how you show up in it now matters more than ever.  3️⃣ While you're witnessing your kids become who they're becoming — this is also your season of becoming What you're carrying is real. And you don't have to carry it alone. SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: The Tuesday Letter with Carlene right here DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week! FOLLOW NOW Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now! Episode Website

    21 min

  7. May 4

    #78: Why You Feel Lonely Even When You're Constantly "Talking" to People — And the One Thing That Fixes It

    Send Carlene a text or voicemail You're texting. You're in the group chat. You're sending the memes and the voice notes and the "thinking of you" messages. So why do you still feel so lonely? That's exactly what listener Theresa asked — and honestly, it stopped me cold. Because she's not wrong. We have more ways to reach people than ever before, and yet so many of us feel more disconnected than we ever have. In this episode, we're talking about the difference between contact and connection — why they are not the same thing, what real presence actually does for your relationships, and the one simple shift that changes everything. Because you're not doing it wrong. You're just missing something nobody told you about. 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE 1️⃣ Contact keeps you in touch. Connection is what fills you back up — and they require very different things. 2️⃣ The loneliness you feel isn't about how often you reach out — it's about how you're reaching out. 3️⃣ You don't need permission to call someone. You never did. SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: The Tuesday Letter with Carlene right here DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week! FOLLOW NOW Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now! Episode Website

    12 min

  8. Apr 27

    #77: Shiny Object Syndrome in Midlife: Is It ADHD, Hormones, or Both?

    Send Carlene a text or voicemail Is it ADHD? Is it menopause? Is it just… you? If you're a woman in midlife who's suddenly drowning in ideas, can't finish the thing you just started, and keeps getting pulled down rabbit holes you didn't plan to go down — first of all, you are not alone. And second — there's actually a really good explanation for what's happening. This episode is inspired by a question from a listener in our Dream Studio community. We're talking about shiny object syndrome — what it is, why your brain does it, and why it might be getting louder in this season of your life.  We cover the brain science (I promise to keep it interesting), the ADHD and hormonal layers that nobody's connecting for you, and real strategies for managing the distraction without losing the creative spark that makes you, you.  And we wrap it up with a conversation about play. What it looks like when you're 50, not five. Why it's so uncomfortable at first. And why making a playdate with yourself — or someone who gets you — might be the thing your dream has needed all along. 3 key takeaways from this episode: Shiny object syndrome is your brain scanning for dopamine — not a sign that something is wrong with you.The drop in estrogen during menopause takes dopamine with it — and that's why so many women in midlife are suddenly flooded with ideas they can't catch, focus they can't find, and a brain that feels like it belongs to someone else.Play isn't something you earn after the real work is done. It's actually how your brain breathes life into your dreams — and most of us have forgotten how to do it.Resources mentioned:  CHADD — chadd.org  Episode 49: Is It ADHD or Menopause? (And What It Means for Breast Cancer Survivors)  Check out Dream Studio Here SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: The Tuesday Letter with Carlene right here DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week! FOLLOW NOW Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now! Episode Website

    20 min
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About

Get ready to confidently and unapologetically go after dreams! Welcome to The Distracted Dreamer Podcast. Today is the day you’re going to pull your dreams off the shelf and bring them to the forefront of your life. You are never too tired, too busy, too old, too young, too anything to pursue your dreams. Imagine… the joy and excitement of doing what lights you up. Your dreams are yours. No one gets to take them from you and no one gets to chase them - except you. Your dreams are there to guide you, to inspire you and to show you that yes, there is something more in store for you. You see, the size of your dreams don’t matter - it could be running a marathon, reading a book series, perfecting that family recipe, traveling the world, or learning to dance. I’m Carlene Bauwens, entrepreneur,  Life Coach and now host of The Distracted Dreamer podcast. I’m here to show you how to kick distraction to the curb and grab hold of your dreams. Your happiness matters. You have a big, beautiful, amazing life to live. And you've only got one of them. Welcome to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast.

Information

  • Creator
    Carlene Bauwens
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    85
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Coach Carlene
  • Show Website
    The Distracted Dreamer